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ARKHANGELSK, January 4. /TASS/. The company, owner of the Russian general cargo vessel Ivan Bobrov detained in Denmark on January 1, has employed an agent to settle the situation and he set to work on Monday, Director General of the Trans-NAO shipping company Vladimir Tyurin told TASS.

"We have employed a shipping agent who started to communicate with authorities in Copenhagen this morning," he said noting the company was expecting a report by Monday night.

Also, Tyurin said his company was searching for candidacies to replace the three detained crew members the Danish authorities had arrested for being over the alcohol limit.

"People are working, looking for the crew. But it cannot be done quickly as the crew is not easy to be employed during the holidays," he said. "We expect help from crewing companies (or marine recruitment - eds. TASS) and if they offer some people for crew jobs, we will employ them and send (to Denmark - eds. TASS)."

Earlier Tyurin said that the ship had not been arrested but was anchored waiting for further developments and that internal inquiries into the circumstances of incident had been opened.

On Sunday, the Danish news agency Ritzaus Bureau said that the captain, chief mate and chief engineer of the Russian general cargo vessel Ivan Bobrov were arrested for two weeks on Saturday night in line with a court ruling.

The cargo vessel Ivan Bobrov (home port - the Russian northern port of Arkhangelsk) went from the British port of Ipswich to Latvia’s Riga to be loaded with sawn timber. Then the ship was to return. In the morning of January 1 the cargo vessel was sailing past the Danish strait Oresund (the Sound).

The Danish TV 2 television said that the cargo ship had deviated from the course and was contacted by radio. The Danish coastal rescue officers suspected that the crew might be drunk.

Arriving at the ship, the police breath tested the nine crew members and found them drunk. The tests showed the captain, his assistant and chief engineer had concentration of alcohol in blood more than 0.5 per mille above the permitted limit for sailors.

The three crew members were arrested and the ship anchored at the Elsinore port. They may face prison terms and the owner - the Trans-NAO shipping company - a huge fine.

Russia’s embassy to Denmark told TASS that Russian diplomats were dealing with the situation.

The detailed blood analysis would be ready the next week, the Danish media said.

Over the past two years there have been about ten cases when the captains of cargo vessels were detained in the Danish waters for being in a state of alcoholic intoxication, among them were Dutch, Polish, Russian and Ukrainian nationals.